Current medical research and opinion
-
Multicenter Study Clinical Trial
Duloxetine in the treatment of women with stress urinary incontinence: results from DESIRE (Duloxetine Efficacy and Safety for Incontinence in Racial and Ethnic populations).
To evaluate the effectiveness and safety of duloxetine for the treatment of African-American and Hispanic women with stress urinary incontinence. ⋯ Duloxetine was efficacious and well tolerated for the treatment of African-American, Hispanic, and Caucasian women with stress urinary incontinence. The trial design was successful in enrolling a diverse population of patients. The most important limitations include the lack of placebo control, the short study duration, and the exclusion of patients with less than seven incontinence episodes per week.
-
Dry eye syndrome is a highly prevalent, yet largely under diagnosed, condition that can substantially affect quality of life. Left untreated, dry eye is associated with chronic eye pain and increased risk of ocular surface disease. Current demographic changes and lifestyle factors indicate that the dry eye syndrome patient population will increase significantly, ensuring that general practitioners and ophthalmic clinicians alike will experience more patients presenting with dry eye symptoms. Greater public and practitioner awareness of emerging research, technologies, and therapies is crucial to ensuring appropriate interventions to meet specific patient needs and result in clinically favorable outcomes. ⋯ The growing prevalence of dry eye syndrome demands increased attention. Further research, enhanced diagnostic tests, increased use of preservative-free artificial tear formulations as first-line therapy, greater patient-practitioner interaction, and patient education are warranted.